Seattle Film Industry and Community:
Are you feeling the heat? Despite yesterday’s rain, we are. It’s peak filming season, and we’re coordinating your shoots as fast as we can! Let’s take a look what productions were up to in June!
June Seattle Film Permits
While film permits only show a slice of the film production activity in the region, they are a window into local film production work. This data helps our office and City leadership understand what type of filming is happening, and what positive jobs and economic impact it is creating.
Here’s the June breakdown of local crew hired by production category, and most popular Seattle neighborhoods.
Production Type (60 permits in June 2019)
- 15 Commercial / Advertising – 247 local cast and crew
- 5 Corporate / Industrial – 48 local cast and crew
- 17 Documentary – 15 local cast and crew
- 2 Feature Films – 125 local cast and crew
- 4 Music Videos – 53 local cast and crew
- 1 Short Film – 12 local cast and crew
- 4 Still Photography – 35 local cast and crew
- 1 Student Film – 4 local cast and crew
- 3 TV / Reality – 13 local cast and crew
- 3 TV / Series – 45 local cast and crew
- 5 Web Series – 76 local cast and crew
Neighborhood Council Districts (showing productions with multiple shoots June 2019)
- District 1 – 4 productions
- District 2 – 7 productions
- District 3 – 8 productions
- District 4 – 12 productions
- District 5 – 2 productions
- District 6 – 7 productions
- District 7 – 19 productions
Top Filming Neighborhoods (June 2019)
- Fremont – 7 Productions
- Magnolia – 6 productions
- Downtown – 6 productions
- Queen Anne, Ravenna / Bryant, Duwamish / SODO – All 5 productions
Film Production in Seattle: Summer Look-ahead
Current permit restrictions: NONE. All downtown traffic control/street closure permit restrictions have been lifted. Film permit requests for all Seattle neighborhoods, including downtown, will continue to be accepted and assessed on a case by case basis.
SR99 Viaduct demolition continues through Summer months. The June deadline has passed, and there is still about 10-15%, we’re told, to still tear down. Then there’s the surface street repairs! Impacts are expected to be greatest along the waterfront and the access streets leading to I-5 and SR99. More information here.
Arena redevelopment continues. Major demolition and digging is now underway at (Key) Arena, with hundreds of daily truck hauls from the Seattle Center to I-5 and SR99. If you get the opportunity to go up to the second floor at SIFF Film Center, you’ll get an amazing birds-eye view of the giant hole being dug under the Arena roof! More information here.
SR99 Tunnel Tolls expected to begin late summer. The exact timeline has not been shared, but we should expect a start date sometime in late summer. Once tolling begins, the general pattern for drivers is to return to surface streets to avoid the tolls. Stay tuned for more information as it’s shared by WSDOT. More information on SR99 Tunnel tolling here.
Need Help with a Location? Hire a Local Locations Professional!
Keeping your schedule is critical to the success of your production. Navigating multi-location shoots requires intent and expertise. When scouting and shooting, we always recommend hiring one of the region’s location professionals. They are the experts and can help you navigate the landscape and permitting processes in Seattle and the region:
- NWScouts.com: Seattle region location scouts and managers
- Reel Crew: Washington Filmworks crew database
- NWFilm.com: Northwest Production Index
Getting Around Town
Be sure to take advantage of SDOT’s mobility assistance information, and north/south tunnel portal entrance/exit scenarios, as you plan for production and crew moves and mobility:
- Webinar: Seattle Squeeze Film Industry Webinar
New and Improved Seattle Film Manual is Now Online!
This comprehensive guide features new and up to date information on everything you need to know about procedures for filming on public property in Seattle. We encourage all filmmakers to give it a read, and to please pass it along to any productions coming from out of town. The manual can be found online at http://www.seattle.gov/filmandmusic/film/film-manual
As always, please contact the Office of Film + Music any time if you have questions or input.
